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2011-06-16 - Arson in Suicide Slum
Technically, it's a bit too early for a semi-friendly crimefighter to be patrolling the streets. The sun has only recently gone down, and decent folk should still be going about their business. Nobody seems to have told that to the people of Suicide Slum though. And so it is that a solid white figure looms on the rooftop of an apartment complex. A few feet away from the ledge, his billowing cloak manages to remain out of the sight of all of the people walking a few stories below him. However, his view of the block (and several blocks in any direction) is excellent. Moon Knight scans the streets with a pair of generic black binoculars. The fading light forces him to focus on areas near a streetlight or neon sign, but he maintains his search pattern despite the difficulty. On his hip, an aftermarket police scanner sqwaks random messages in police code, but apparently none of it is interesting enough to remove him from his spot. The closest thing, right now, that the Justice Society of America has to a base is Grant's. Jesse's had the thought that they should do something about that. Especially as she doesn't want her association with the place to be too obvious. This once, though, Liberty Belle starts her patrol in the area. The man on the rooftop might see an odd red and gold blur coming out of the alleyway behind the gym and boxing studio. Since it's by far the most color he's seen since he set up camp on the rooftop, Moon Knight notices the blur. He doesn't, however, think to pay any attention to its origin. Behind his expressionless mask, his eyebrows knit closer together in a mix of curiosity and bemusement. "Looks like I picked the wrong deer stand..." He lowers the volume on his portable police scanner a bit, waiting with newfound eagerness to see what might develop now that a bona fide superhero is on the scene. What's that? Liberty Belle has not noticed the rooftop guy, but she HAS noticed somebody leaving a nearby building by the back door in a distinctly hurried manner. She doesn't slow down so much as run circles while she tries to work out what's going on. The guy up on the rooftop doesn't have quite as intimate a view of the area, so he doesn't immediately notice the suspicious goings on. He does, however, notice that some of the people on the street have been watching the building for a few minutes. It's only when one of them runs away from the building that the others turn and attempt to walk away nonchalantly. Still, it isn't the lookouts that Moon Knight is interested in, it's the Doers of Evil. The guy who left the building must have used some sort of chemical accelerant, because all of a sudden an explosive burst of flame shoots out of several of the windows on the bottom story of the building. Flames and smoke can immediately be seen, and the fire seems to be spreading quickly. Okay. Go after the bad guy or...check the building. Taking a deep breath, Liberty rushes into the now burning building...and up the stairs. She can fly if it collapses and she can move fast enough to avoid being burned. Anyone already inside is not likely to be as lucky. "Wow. What a dick move." Moon Knight puts his binoculars away inside a pouch on his belt while he contemplates the smartest course of action. A few seconds later, he pulls out a prepaid cellphone from one of his pouches and quickly dials the fire department. In a voice several octaves higher than his actual one he shrieks. "Oh my god! I think the building across the street is on fire! I'm at the deli on 51st and 13. Oh god, please hurry, there are children!" Abruptly, he turns the phone off and chucks it off the roof. During his conversation, he's taken note of the blur's location. Seeing that it's inside the building, and probably doing more good inside than he could hope to, he decides to focus his attention on the culprit. And so he takes a leap off the side of the building, waiting until he has fallen several stories before shooting his grapple gun at an obliging structure and swinging toward the ground. Children first, of course. There's a fire escape, and she's getting them out that way first. Some of the people are quite capable of fleeing once they're that far clear. At one point, the blur vanishes into the distance holding a baby, only to return pretty quickly. It takes Moon Knight less than a minute to deal with the runner. A short swing on a grapple line, an equally short roll on the ground, a somewhat longer run down two blocks, and a quick punch to the back of the head are all that it takes to subdue the suspected arsonist. Wordlessly, Moon Knight zip ties the man's hands behind his back, throws him over his shoulder, and begins running back toward the building, criminal in tow. At this point, there are quite a few people outside, either having got out on their own or with the speedster's help. (Maybe Moon Knight can feed him to his would-be victims? They don't look happy). It would seem that Moon Knight is thinking something along those lines. In a clear, but somewhat gravelly voice, he calls out. "Hey! Listen up people. Do any of you know this scum?" Unceremoniously, he dumps the still-unconsious man on the ground. However, nobody answers in the affirmative. In fact, none of them even seem to want to look at Moon Knight. Possibly a combination of Moon Knight's natural scariness and the fact that they've all just had a near-death experience. "Nobody knows who he is? I guess you won't miss him then." And with that, he picks up the body and begins walking toward the building. It's only when he reaches the plume of smoke pouring from the door that the man begins to wake up. "Z25Y(2AB)6" Red and gold blur becomes red and gold clad blonde, standing by the entrance with her hands on her hips. "Ahem." The sudden appearance of a female superhero is enough to make Moon Knight stop in his tracks. However, he doesn't say anything. The man he's carrying over his shoulder says more than enough for the two of them. "Hey, wait a minute! What's going on? Come on, let me go!" He kicks and squirms in a futile attempt to get free, but it doesn't seem like the ghostly figure needs to exert much effort to hold him in place. "If you kill him, you give the government all the ammunition against us they need," Liberty says, almost softly. His intent is pretty clear, after all. While the man continues to squirm and shout, Moon Knight stares intently at the young heroine. The complete lack of features makes the bright blue glowing eyes look otherworldly and chilling. That is, to people who aren't used to otherworldly and chilling. Finally, after a few seconds of staring, he simply says: "I'm not going to kill him, I'm just going to cook him for a few minutes." This makes the hostage rather unhappy. "I have to be sure." There's almost a smile under the mask. She can't be over twenty, but does have a bit of a poise to her. "The cops...won't be here for a while, knowing this part of town." Useless...well, no, not ALL of them. "Hey, come on man, just put me down, I'll tell you whatever you want to know. I swear!" Moon Knight shrugs, "Yeah... but no." And then he attempts to walk around Liberty Belle. "You know...it *might* be good to find out what he knows." Man. She wishes Ted was here. He would probably speak this guy's language better than her...she knows full well she isn't as 'street' as some heroes. "Well... if you insist. But I'm pretty sure the only thing he knows is that he's a piece of shit who tried to burn a building down." Moon Knight drops the guy down a few feet away from the door. Smoke continues to billow out of the doorway, making the immediate are a not fun place to be breathing. "Okay guy, tell us something interesting." "Just insurance, you know. Money." Liberty glares at him, folding her arms across her stomach. "Got it. Just money. I might just be nice and dump you at the police station. A signed confession would be nice." If nothing else, this guy makes a GREAT bad cop, doesn't he. "The police station? See... I'm more of a do-it-yourselfer. But, since you saved all the people from the fire I guess you can do it your way." He gives the man a sharp kick in the ribs, a bit petulantly, before he turns around and begins walking away from the building. "Later." A few blocks away, the trademark sound of a fire engine can be heard, getting closer. Category:Logs